Robert L. Copeland, Ph.D.Howard UniversityCollege of MedicineDepartment of Pharmacology

18 February 2002

Parkinson Disease

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Neurological disease affectingover four million patientsworldwide, over 1.5 millionpeople in the U.S.. While itcan affect individuals at anyage, it is most common in theelderly. The average age of onset is 55 years, althoughapproximately 10 percent of cases affect those under age40.

Parkinson's disease was first formallydescribed in "

An Essay on theShaking Palsy

," published in 1817 bya London physician named JamesParkinson, but it has probably existedfor many thousands of years. Itssymptoms and potential therapieswere mentioned in the Ayurveda, thesystem of medicine practiced in Indiaas early as 5000 BC, and in the firstChinese medical text, Nei Jing, whichappeared 2500 years ago.